Mag-nificent

I have always assumed that this was a magnolia but I read somewhere that Magnolias are evergreens and these are definitely deciduous. I walked around my neighborhood recently and saw many different kinds, but most were deciduous, the few evergreen magnolias didn't show any sign of flowers.

I thought I should investigate a bit.

but first, we have had a lot of this recently,

and some wind, and even though there are still a lot of cherry blossoms on the trees, it has been snowing blossoms too.

This hedge has caught quite a few falling blossoms,

and many sidewalks and pathways are covered in a blanket of newly fallen blossoms. Ah, spring!

So to get back to Magnolias, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, there are both evergreen and deciduous varieties:

"Deciduous magnolias usually flower in spring before leaf emergence. Magnolia grandiflora (bull bay), the most commonly grown evergreen, flowers in flushes from summer until early autumn. In warm summers these can be followed by striking knobbly seedpods from which bright red seeds emerge in autumn."

Apparently the Magnolia is an ancient plant genus:

"Magnolia is an ancient genus. Appearing before bees did, the flowers evolved to encourage pollination by beetles. To avoid damage from pollinating beetles, the carpels of Magnolia flowers are extremely tough."

One or two of the flowers below has been damaged by the rain and wind, showing a cross section of the flower.

They get the name from French botanist Pierre Magnol.

In my stroll around the neighborhood I saw white ones, pink ones and purple ones. These beautiful white ones and delicate star-like ones are my favorite.

Here are white magnolias against a background of delicate pink cherry blossoms.

I encountered some evergreen magnolias too, but they were not showing any sign of flowering.

I saw a couple of shrubs with little yellow puffy flowers too, quite lovely but I don't know what they are.

I have been a bit under the weather this week, a little dose of food poisoning I think, but starting to feel better.

Here is a great video of an owl:

Here is a picture my pal Judy forwarded to me titled "owls in camouflage". I had to look quite closely, at first to see the owl.

I did get some painting done though. Perhaps because of the abundant blossoms outside, this week I felt like painting flowers. This watercolour is named "In the Pink", it's a hydrangea:

For more details follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

Thanks for stopping by, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ......... 

Blossoms

This week marks the start of the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival (April 4 to April 30) with events happening all over the city to celebrate the beauty of Cherry Blossoms.

"The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival was founded in 2005 by Linda Poole, its director, to commemorate the 37,000 cherry trees gifted from Japan to the City of Vancouver." Wikipedia

Cherry blossoms are among the earliest of the blooming trees. We have recently had a mild sunny spell and the trees have burst into bloom.

You can enjoy the blooms almost anywhere in the city, especially in the parks; there are guided walks, a bicycle blossom event called Velopalooza as well as music, en plein air painting and writing (haiku) to celebrate the blooming of the cherry trees. 

"Haiku (俳句, haikai verse^?) listen (help·info) (no separate plural form) is a very short form of Japanese poetry typically characterised by three qualities:

• The essence of haiku is "cutting" (kiru). This is often represented by the juxtaposition of two images or ideas and a kireji ("cutting word") between them, a kind of verbal punctuation mark which signals the moment of separation and colours the manner in which the juxtaposed elements are related.

• Traditional haiku consist of 17 on (also known as morae), in three phrases of 5, 7 and 5 on respectively.^[1] Any one of the three phrases may end with the kireji.^[2] Although haiku are often stated to have 17 syllables,^[3] this is inaccurate as syllables and on are not the same.

• A kigo (seasonal reference), usually drawn from a saijiki, an extensive but defined list of such words. (Wikipedia)

I have included some of the winning haiku from previous years between the pictures:

missed the bus again.
cherry blossom petals
weightless in my hands.

Monica Wang

blossoms bursting
each tree is a choir
singing to the sun

Oz Hershfield

soft-pedalling

along the avenue—

cherry blossoms

Mary Franklin

Here is my attempt at haiku:

sunshine and blossoms
lunch on the deck in springtime
that is perfection!


There are other flowers too:

Japonica

Forsythia

Lilac, about to bloom

rhododendron

Horse chestnut tree about to flower

The promise of fruit, the strawberry plants are bursting into life and may start flowering soon.

This bunny was enjoying a carrot.

The red winged blackbirds are nesting.

Not cherry blossoms but beautiful.

The turtles were out sunbathing.

The daffodils in the park were in full bloom too.

This robin was searching for food.

Flowering currant bush:

... and one of my Camellias has started to bloom

All in all a most beautiful time, and I think my favorite time of the year.

Happy Easter and happy spring to all.

"Joy in looking and comprehending is nature's most beautiful gift." - Albert Einstein

"God is really only another artist, he made the elephant, giraffe and cat. He has no real style but keeps trying new ideas." Pablo Picasso

So, what is the harm in trying new things, look what marvels have come of it!

I have been busy in the studio too. There  are two more paintings in the seashore series and another teddy bear and tiger image. First the two new seashore paintings:

"Three dollars in the bank" focuses on sand dollars a delight to kids of all ages.

"Three dollars in the bank"

"Sea Urchin Line Up" is of beautifully coloured sea urchin shells.

"Sea Urchin line up"

 The teddies and tigers are back too. Here is one called "Splish, splash, time for a ..."

All are watercolours, for more details follow this link: GillianOlsonArt.blogspot.ca

I am delighted that you have dropped by for a visit, Happy Whimsy Wednesday, until next week ..........